Tre anni sono trascorsi dalla pubblicazione dell’imprescindibile e maestoso El Cielo.
Eppure sembra ieri. Sarà perchè lo ascolto ancora con frequenza settimanale. Come per altro il debutto Leitmotif. Se questi ragazzi restano imprigionati nel mio piatto cd un motivo ci dovrà pur essere?!?!
Me lo chiedo ovviamente con retorica. So perfettamente cosa i Dredg hanno che in pochissimi del marasma musicale odierno e passato.
Originalità, sensibilità ed un'evoluzione coerente.

E ovviamente il discorso non viene interrotto con “Catch Without Arms”, fresco fresco di stampa. E’ allarmante come i Dredg riescano a sfornare solo meraviglie... forse è per questo che al momento ci sono solo desolazione e piattezza musicale nel panorama, tutte le idee atterrano solo sul pianeta Dredg.
Questi toni possono apparire eccessivamente entusiastici ma mi sento di garantire alla Muzio Scevola che la delusione dell’acquisto non sfiorerà neanche un secondo chi entrerà nella loro orbita musicale. Un prodotto pregiato e variegato dall’immensa qualità e dall’ottima produzione, curato nel minimo dettaglio, sia del packaging che degli arrangiamenti.

I suoni balzano e si alternano sulle due vie delle mie Bose senza permettermi di avere alcun punto di riferimento: sembra un inseguimento perenne tra il mio timpano avido di catturare e il pentagramma che scorre liquido e veloce in tutte le direzioni.
Come la partenza zigzagante di ‘Ode To The Sun’, imprevista e affilata come una tagliola, sviluppata su una serie continua di salite e discese umorali. Pochi minuti e il registro cambia repentino con il “manto della zebra” (track #5), fluida composizione dal suono che spazia senza incontrare ostacoli, fino al momento nel quale iniziano a partire le prime note della sincopata ‘Tanbark’: è un nuovo colpo di fulmine. E poi via via scorrono veloci tutti i 12 movimenti, tra i quali è veramente difficile riuscire ad individuare una composizione che spicchi tra tutte, tanto è alto il livello medio di quest’opera. Sicuramente più speed rispetto alle precedenti produzioni, ma riconoscibile tra mille altri album in pochi secondi; questo si chiama stile, e i ragazzi ne hanno da vendere.

E’ un lavoro che va ascoltato d’un sol fiato, ogni brano è migliore grazie alla presenza degli altri, tutti notevoli anche grazie alla forza e all’anima comune che li abbraccia tutti e 12, comunque intimamente diversi per influenze e tempi (dall’elettronico Moby, ai primi U2, passando per i Deftones più melodici e con qualche profonda influenza tooliana e filter).
Electro, rock, ballad e hard, sfumate di wave: insomma tra i più convincenti prodotti che al momento si possa chiedere alla musica.
Suonano, è solo questo che conta.

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

01   Ode to the Sun (04:12)

It's gone from light to grey
But I'll move those clouds away
Letting the sun shine through
In this ode to you

Let the demons have their place
And so its angels you'll create
And disguised within the dark
Light will wait

My heart, my own, you're my soul

Will you
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you transcend

We flip towards the sun
Wheels skidding on the run
A flowing sea of red
The whole city grows

My heart, my own, you're my sun

Will you
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you to transcend

Will you
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you transcend fiasco

Rubber neck, passing motorists
Mangled till you can't caress
Repair this tattered skin
Hold it in your hand
You've already glistened through the window
You've already set your soul free, free, free

Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you transcend

Will you
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you transcend fiasco

02   Bug Eyes (04:14)

Bring back those good ol' days
Nothing feels right
Nothing ever goes my way
I threw my future away
Now I walk alone
Out here in the cold
Wandering astray
Where's my future?
I'm gonna need a home
You'd expect the same, now wouldn't you, wouldn't you?

Your journey back to birth is haunting you it's haunting you
Your departure from the earth, is haunting you, it's haunting you

Only those who accept will find that acceptance in return
When you've been trimmed down like hedges, and told just to sit, and wilt, and spit at each other from a distance
With constant resistance from you
Gonna need a home
You'd expect the same now wouldn't you, wouldn't you?

Your journey back to birth is haunting you, it's haunting you
Your departure from the earth is haunting you, it's haunting you

It's been ten years strong, thats much too long
It's time to do something good for my health
Time to do somethin' good for myself
It's been ten years strong, thats much too long
It's time to do something good for my health
Time to do somethin' good for myself
I've wasted all this time, I've wasted all this time

Your journey back to birth is haunting you, it's haunting you
You departure from the earth is haunting you, it's haunting you

Your journey back to birth is haunting you, it's haunting you
Your departure from the earth is haunting you, it's haunting you

03   Catch Without Arms (04:11)

I'm not your star
I'm not that beam of light
Here to save your life
To make your wallet fat
While mine's on a diet

It's not my greatest care
When simple needs are scarce
It's never ending
It really seems unfair
But lately I don't care
I don't care that much
I've given up tryin'

So sing about love
Sing about lust
So they will care...
It's the same difference

That's what happens when you play catch without arms
That's what sets, sets, sets us apart
Well that's what happens
When you compromise your art
That's what set, set, set us apart

You've got this far
I don't know if you care
But I think that you should swear
Or something of the sort
To show me that you're tryin

So sing about love
Sing about lust
So they will care...
It's the same difference

That's what happens when you play catch without arms
That's what sets, sets, sets us apart
Well that's what happens
When you compromise your art
That's what set, set, set us apart

Set the faith
So they will find it
If there's a hope they can't deny it
Sing about lust so they can feel it
Sing about love so they can sing it
Sing it.....

Well that's what happens when you play catch without arms
That's what sets, sets, sets us apart
Well that's what happens
When you compromise your art
That's what set, set, set us apart

I'm not your star
I'm not that beam of light
Here to save your life
Oh no...

I'm not your star
I'm not that beam of light
Here to save your life
Oh no...

04   Not That Simple (04:56)

Remove my hands and feet
Watch me crawl on my stubs
Throw me to the street
Watch me fall on down head first

It's not that simple
I've needed this from the start
To guide my way
To be okay
It's made life simple
I've needed this from the start to wake up

If all else fails
If all turns to dust
Set sail on a ship built from trust
If all else fails
And all starts to rust
Set sail on a ship built for us

Its time to retreat
I sawed it down to the bone
The canyons are too deep yeah
Decided to run like a child
Decided to run to rescue
Took too long to wake up

If all else fails
If all turns to dust
Set sail on a ship built from trust
If all else fails
And all starts to rust
Set sail on a ship built for us

It's not that simple
I've needed this from the start
To guide my way
To be okay
It's made life simple
I've needed this from the start to wake up

If all else fails
If all turns to dust
Set sail on a ship built from trust
If all else fails
And all starts to rust
Set sail on a ship built for us
For us for us

05   Zebraskin (03:26)

One Two Three Four

I wonder why I'm running around again
I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
Yeah I wonder
Like sprinting on a frozen pond..I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend

A couple of drinks mid-day mid-day mid-day
Haven't felt this way this way since yesterday
A couple of drinks I sway I sway I sway
Haven't felt this way since yesterday

I wonder why I'm running around again
I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
Yeah I wonder
Like sprinting on a frozen pond I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend

(a couple of drinks, a couple of drinks)
(a couple of drinks, a couple of drinks)

A couple of drinks mid-day mid-day mid-day
Haven't felt this way this way since yesterday
Beginning to sink and fade and fade and fade
There's nothing that I would trade to feel this way

I wonder why I'm running around again
I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
Yeah I wonder
Like sprinting on a frozen pond I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend

(a couple of drinks, a couple of drinks)
(various vocal background noises)

I wonder why I'm running around again
I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
Yeah I wonder
Like sprinting on a frozen pond I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend

I wonder...running around again
I wonder...may have lost my best friend
I wonder...running around again
I wonder...may have found my best friend

06   The Tanbark Is Hot Lava (03:45)

The old returns
While the new can bore
'Cuz you're the one who fell
Into a self created hell
We've worn it out
It took time to realize
It's a chore to recognize
What your world could take
It's overgrown

Take it all away now
Real soon we'll take this all the way down

The old returns
While the new can bore
'Cuz you're the one who fell
Into a self created hell
There is no way out
When you build a stubborn shell
That shields from any help
We've worn it out
You tried to maximize
But it came as no surprise
You hurled a stake
To your own dome

Take it all away now
Real soon we'll take this all the way down

Please, Don't, Go, Stay

The old returns
While the new can bore
'Cuz you're the one who fell
Into a self created hell
There is no way out
When you build a stubborn shell
That shields from any help

The old returns
While the new can bore
'Cuz you're the one who fell
Into a self created hell
Take it all away now
There is no way out (2x)
When you build a stubborn shell
That shields from any help
We've worn it out (2x)

07   Sang Real (04:29)

I'm the addict on the corner
I'm the lawyer in the tower
I'm the body with the coroner
No, the leader with all the power
You're the pillow, the cool side
The sand during high tide
The cocktail, poolside
The water when clouds collide

From the inside out we were formed
From the inside out we will fall
Soon this all will come to an end

I'm a local but a foreigner
Still the addict yet I'm sober
Still the body with the coroner
Many friends yet still a loner
You're the pillow, the cool side
The sand during high tide
The cocktail, poolside
The water when clouds collide

From the inside out we were formed
From the inside out we will fall
Soon this all will come to an end
Soon this all will come to an end

From the inside out we were formed
From the inside out we will fall
Soon this all will come to an end
Soon this all will come to an end

08   Planting Seeds (04:12)

She's to blame I'll erase routine
With a spark to ignite the flame
And in this struggle of guilt to tame
It's freedom I'll obtain
She tied me up
Removed my crown
Bittered all good taste
Sorry for everything I've done
I can't deny your stake

Look at what I have found
A seashell in a sea of shells
I'm good at planting my own seeds
To sprout endless hell
It's dark like Poe

Forgiveness came we embrace the key
Found water to douse the flame
We ended our difference of soul and brain
Forever we have changed
I've just set out on a brand new race
Can we keep the pace
I can't believe what we've become
I'll leave without a trace

Look at what I have found
A seashell in a sea of shells
I'm good at planting my own seeds
To sprout endless hell
It's dark like Poe

Yeaah yeeeaaahhh
Yeaah yeeeaaahhh... ohh ohh ohh

Look at what I have found
A seashell in a sea of shells
I'm good at planting my own seeds
To sprout endless hell
It's dark like Poe

Leave without a trace, I'll leave without a trace...

09   Spitshine (03:34)

I harmonize with a million screaming laughs
That haunted those before us
Preaching symphonies while the chorus yelled: "Unity!"
It's based on facts, It's based on facts

You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then packaged it away
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then left it to decay

Will you watch your step
The boring story's left
You're feeling lost
"In here," she said
"Come in here"
The pain won't last

You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then packaged it away
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then left it to decay

Take this weight off my shoulders
And move it to my brain
Take this weight off my shoulders
And move it to my brain

You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then packaged it away
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then left it to decay
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then packaged it away
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then left it to decay

10   Jamais Vu (04:56)

I looked to the sky
Saw my body die
Gotta reappear up there
It's where I want to be
In the university
I've found I've found my own college
I've found I've found a way to resolve this

I'm not inside you
You're all around me
Is this what you needed to have to comfort you
I waited all this time above you

Is this what you wanted
Is this what you needed to have
Take all that I've known
Is this what you wanted
Is this what you need me to fear
Take all that I've found...

I'm not inside you
You're all around me
Is this what you needed to have to comfort you
I waited all this time above you

I looked to the ground
Was pleased with what I found
Gotta reappear up here
It's where I'll always be
In the university
I've found I've found all my problems
I'm gone I'm gone finally solved this

I'm not inside you
You're all around me
Is this what you needed to have to comfort you
I waited all this time above you

11   Hung Over on a Tuesday (04:05)

12   Matroshka (The Ornament) (05:48)

I was looking down at you smiling up at me
For once I held you tight, but shadowed arms grabbed at me
Your head was in the clouds, now those clouds are in your head
It's when you needed me, so I listened to what you said

Look another year went by
They keep passing by
Goddamn I didn't even die
To old and slow I've grown
Well I fought time but lost

It was love like a callus you're scarred enough to be
Tough and immuned, your body adapts you see
To all above my head and all below my feet
Know that's one freedom you'll never take from me

Look another year went by
They keep passing by
Goddamn I didn't even die
To old and slow I've grown
Well I fought time but lost

To criticize and judge
How did I end up here
With these standards I'm forced to love
Make me disappear

Hold tight, hold tight

To criticize and judge
How did I end up here
With these standards I'm forced to love
Make me disappear

To criticize and judge
How did I end up here
With these standards I'm forced to love
Make me disappear

Hold tight, hold tight, hold tight, hold tight
Look another year went by
Hold tight, hold tight, hold tight, hold tight

13   Uplifting News (03:22)

I watch the hawk land
A sign of good fortune
I watched it reaching out for my hand it said
"You shouldn't revert back to the way you used to be
You know it will only help you in the end"
It's not an issue don't let it in
Settle down
Settle down

Save your stories cause they're all the same
You've had had your glory
Throw it all away
If you don't you will never change cause
Give it time and watch your fame decay

You're not alone
I've straightened out crooked lines
I did it on my own
Got it done, I served my time
It's gonna take more you know
Settle down
Lay it down lay

Save your stories cause they're all the same
You've had had your glory
Throw it all away
If you don't you will never change cause
Give it time and watch it your fame decay

It's gone away
Gone
It's gone away

All worries
No pleasure
It will open the ultimate treasure
This is how our status is measured
This isn't pleasure

Save your stories cause they're all the same
You've had had your glory
Throw it all away
If you don't you will never change cause
Give it time and watch your fame decay

Carico i commenti...  con calma

Altre recensioni

Di  Devin Davis

 I Dredg necessitano di molti ascolti per essere apprezzati.

 Il difetto maggiore è che i Dredg, invece di continuare nel loro personale stile, siano passati ad uno schema più pop-rock... e quest’ultima parola mi spaventa molto.


Di  fede

 C'è un solo aggettivo per definire questo disco degli americani Dredg, 'Catch Without Arms', ed è SORPRENDENTE.

 Un disco straordinario e unico nella sua capacità di comunicare emozioni.